Author: Mandala

Hello Dear Friends ,

The recently completed Himalayan Yoga Tradition Teacher Training Program (HYT-TTP) conducted at University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota was a wonderful success. It was a special two weeks of blissful events, showered with the blessings of Swami Veda. Thank you, Swamiji for your presence.

The theme of the month-long July programming sponsored by The Meditation Center was “The Song of Silence.” It included our own HYT-TTP and a Prana Vidya course. These courses allowed the Level 1 and the 200 hour students to complete their contact hours required for their certifications. Among the other events that the TTP students attended were the VERY well attended Yoga Nidra weekend with Swami Veda and the Interfaith Spiritual Weekend.

Our group of ten students hailed from across the Northern Hemisphere; from France and Turkey in Europe, and in North America from the New Jersey shores to Trinity Alps of California to our own St. Paul neighborhood. The students came from various professional backgrounds and some from other yoga traditions. For the first time, a mother and son participated together as a pair. Marlene Stenlund, married to Brian by Swami Veda in the 1970s, attended with their son, Kai.

The evening lectures contained many highlights including Swami Nityamuktananda’s very popular Five Elements, and Ma Radha’s sharing of stories about the Tradition and Swami Rama’s early days. Stoma conducted fascinating workshop on various subjects ranging from Sanskrit to Ethics. Maya brought her stillness of being to every word she breathed, and Peter gave us a complete experience of our individual bodies to enable  us to sit straight during meditation

We were deeply touched by the poem Caroline Tomazeau wrote at the time of her initiation by Swami Ritavan.

Mantra Initiation with Swami Ritavan  –  July 26,  2009

May this Mantra
be the eternal expression
of my surrender
to the unifying stream
of Divine Consciousness,

May its sound transform
each thought, each word, each action
through the essence
of its silent beauty,

May its love and compassion
bring intuition, peace and harmony
to all.

With Joy and Reverence,
Caroline

The Tradition is proud to have these students as part of The Himalayan Tradition. Please welcome our new group to the Lineage.

Students and Faculty

Top row L to R :

Caroline Tomazeau, Swami Nityamuktananda,  David Alexander,  Rob Diggins,  Kai Stenlund,  Maya (Margo Balog),  Swami Ma Radha Bharati

Middle Row L to R :

Peter Fabian, Brian Buttler, Nic Klein, T.Tavita Martin, Barb Aschettino, Phyllis Newmark

Bottom Row L to R :

Esra Ergin Zynep, Dicle Sengoren, Mariella Silva, Marlene Stenlund, Maryon M
To learn more about TTP programs please visit www.himalayanyogatradition.com

Yours in Loving Service,
Maryon Maass
HYT-TTP Office Manager
Rishikesh, India

First ever Children’s Yoga Camp a huge success at The Meditation Center

This summer, for five days, three hours a day, ten excited young yogis and yoginis from across the Twin Cities attended the first TMC yoga camp in the Center’s stately brick building in Northeast Minneapolis, Minnesota (www.themeditationcenter.org). Camp staffers Lela Pierce, Kate Kinnich, Mary Bowman-Cline, Shushmi Aggarwal, and a passel of dedicated and talented volunteers led the kids in making art, playing warrior tag, practicing asanas, and learning the nuances of the neti pot, mantra and meditation. The children also had the chance to lead one another in hatha classes.

On the camp’s closing Friday, Swami Ritavan Bharati gave each participant a graduation certificate as well as a copy of Swami Veda’s Art of Beautification Journal. Staff and kids alike loved the experience, calling it “an AUMing success.” In fact, it was such a success that The Meditation Center will offer a children’s Yoga meditation class in October.

“Yoga in Daily Life” Retreat for Children in Malayasia

With the theme “Yoga in Daily Life for Children,” Judy Rajah assisted by Rajah Indran conducted a one day retreat in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, on 2nd August.  Twenty children participated, and their parents were also there to support and see the progress of their children. This full day started at six in the morning and finished at six in the evening.

The children enjoyed the games, meditative walk, moral stories, preparing for the display to parents etc.

Their efforts were appreciated with simple gifts. The program ended with presentation of participation certificates and guided meditation.

Children’s Yoga Class in Trinidad

 

 

 

The only time I had the opportunity to meet Swami Rama was in 1996 at his Rishikesh ashram, Sadhana Mandir. He was not well but was kind to invite me and my friend, Dr. David Frawley (who was also accompanying me), for a brief “darshan.”  After a few moments, he fixed his hypnotic gaze on me and said, “You should meet Swami Veda.” The meeting was over with these words. He asked someone to bring us both to Swami Veda.

Dr. David Frawley knew a lot about Swami Veda but I had no clue who this “guy” was. As usual Swami Veda was “eternally busy.” After a few moments we both realized that we needed to leave him alone, so we left. Even though the meeting was brief, I felt very drawn to him. I had “goose pumps” like some sort of electric currents were emanating from his body.

Around the same period I had purchased a piece of land in Rishikesh. Each time I would visit there, a powerful vision would come of many meditation cottages where people were doing sadhana. I had no clue about this vision. I also had no clue about the big king cobra who greeted me, standing eye to eye ten feet away, when I first went to see this land.

Due to personal finances, I sold the land a few years later and forgot about it. In 2005, when I was showing a visiting friend from Delhi around the Rishikesh area, I happened to pass in front of the same land. I decided to drive in to see who had purchased it and what was happening there.

It was a real shock. Rows of meditation cottages from my vision greeted me. Even the structure and color were the same.

To my great surprise, Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, created by Swami Rama through Swami Veda, stood there in all peaceful, tranquil and serene grandeur.  A few months later when I again visited SRSG, Swami Veda was there.

“Swami Ji is very busy but he can see you for a few minutes,” Dr. Prakash Dixit Ji very smilingly and humbly told us after informing Swami Veda about our visit.

The “few minutes” stretched to a couple of hours, and then a couple more hours at dinner that night. The next day I was blessed to receive my initiation. The connection from the past life was re-established. I again found my Lama.

For so long I was looking for someone to fix the noise of thousands of  buzzing bees in my ears, which had taken away my sleep and peace of mind. Swami Veda said, “OK ! Now I know why you have come…!!”

The story continues in different shades on different levels since then.

For information about an Ayurvedic retreat in Mauritius with Dr. Sharma, go to upcoming events.

“Yoga in Daily Life” was the theme of the three day AHYMSIN-Asia retreat held August 23rd – 25th. The retreat was organized by The Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. It was led by Joseph Wong with guidance from Datuk Hiew Thien Choi, the President of AHYMSIN-Asia.

Sixty participants met at Kota Kinabalu and took a 2+ hours bus ride up to Kundasang, the closest village to Mount Kinabalu and the resort has a magnificent panoramic view of the mountain with cold refreshing climate. The beauty of the nature is most conducive for the purpose of sharing knowledge on yoga from our inspiring teachers.

The 60 participants comprised of 32 from Sabah (28 are from Kota Kinabalu and 4 from Keningau), 14 from Peninsula Malaysia (12 from Penang and 2 from Kuala Lumpur) and 14 foreign participants (11 from Taiwan, 2 from Japan and 1 from Singapore).

Pandit Vishnu Panigrahi from SRSG, Rishikesh, India, shared his knowledge of the practice of yoga in daily life and emotional purification.  Other inspiring teachers were Datin Judy Rajah, Datuk Rajah Indran, Judy Chin, Wong Yoong Khiang, Fuku Iida, Joseph Wong and Datuk Hiew. All shared spiritual teachings of the Himalayan Tradition to the eager and attentive participants.

The retreat began with heart warming welcoming and introduction speech by Datuk Hiew in both English and Mandarin. During the retreat, the teachings of the Tradition were organized to provide an introduction of Yoga and its principles, its practical practices in our daily lives, variety of asanas in Hatha Yoga and joints and glands exercises, guided meditation, prayers, and relaxation methods. As we had diverse cultures in the retreat, most of the lectures were conducted in both English and Mandarin.

Participants responded well to the practical teachings of Yoga in Daily Life. The lectures and heart-felt chanting of Pandit Vishnu stirred many emotions and helped many to gain insights into spiritual aspects of Self as well as motivate them to incorporate regular personal practice of yoga meditation in their daily lives.

Datuk Rajah conducted 2 sessions on the Teachers Training Program and garnered numerous interests from participants. He described the course, explained what it takes to be a teacher and invited participants to consider being a teacher. One of the barriers identified is lack of materials in other languages, particularly Mandarin.

There was a wonderful selection of books written by Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharati from the ashram for the benefit of the participants. Sharing of knowledge and thoughts occur not just during the lectures but also informally among all participants as well as teachers.

Pandit Vishnu initiated the practice of silence during mealtimes. However, participants really enjoy each other’s company and find it hard to restrain themselves! On the last dinner, a final requested was made by Panditji to be silent and enjoy every taste and texture of our food. He sat with the Taiwanese group and had the most silent table in the retreat.

We have obtained positive feedback from the participants with more than 80% of the retreat program being met and exceeding participants’ expectations. Some have commented that they would prefer more Hatha Yoga sessions to facilitate meditation. Some of the participants would like to return to the next retreat in Sabah.

“Life is a long journey and in that journey of life, so many good and unpleasant events happens. The pleasant events inspire us. My journey to Malaysia was inspiring. It encouraged me to walk deeper in the knowledge, meditation and daily life. I hope to see everyone again and would like to invite you to the ashram in Rishikesh for Guru Purmina and Khumba Mela in February 2010 and the Children’s Youth Camp in 2011.“

– From Pandit Vishnu

AHYMSIN-Asia would like to extend many thanks to the organizing committee from Kota Kinabalu’s center. Due to their commendable effort, it was a successful retreat to unite people from Asia in the path of spirituality. The next AHYMSIN-Asia retreat has yet to be confirmed but there is a good possibility of holding it in Japan.

OM May we surrender and offer the benefits gained from this retreat to Brahman.

Swami Veda (Spiritual Guide and Founder), Dr Mohan Swami (President of AHYMSIN) and Dave Hume (VP AHYMSIN) are pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Rajah Indran as the new AHYMSIN International Managing Director.

Datuk Rajah Indran will relieve Swami Veda of all organisational matters, allowing Swamiji to focus on spiritual teaching, meditation and writing. Rajah Indran brings with him an enormous treasure of lifelong experience of international organizations. He is an initiate of Swami Rama, an authorised mantra-initiator, member of the AHYMSIN Board of Directors and Adhyatma Samiti, a teacher and guide.

The following is a message from Rajah Indran to all of the AHYMSIN Family:

” I congratulate all of you for the good work being done. We are truly blessed because we have the dedication and continued support of many people with the guidance of His Holiness Swami Veda Bharati.  Having got to where we are now let us review and put in place a meaningful structure that will ensure the continued growth of AHYMSIN. I accept this responsibility in humility and as an opportunity to serve the tradition and look forward to your understanding and support.”

Rajah Ji and his wife Judy will be moving to Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama in February 2010 in order to devote all his time and energy to his new position. At present he is winding up his duties and responsibilities in Malaysia. If you would like to learn more about Mr. Indran’s background, click on the following link to view his CV and a short biography.

Link for Raja Indran’s CV and short biography

Before his departure from the Ashram in May, Swamiji asked all students and ashramites to visit three special places in the mountains to practice silence and deepen their sadhana.  They were: Tarkeshwar, Vasishtha Cave and Kalimath.

The last group from the Ashram visited Kalimath from 3rd to 7th September.  The mission was to maintain silence for three days, practicing the Ityukta mantra given by Swamiji in February 2007.

After a long and strenuous journey of eight hours on the difficult mountain roads, we finally reached Kalimath.  We were all immediately enchanted by the beauty and the quietness of the area.  Coming in the presence of those tall mountains surrounding the small village with the temple complex as its center was a deep spiritual experience in itself.

Even without anything else, the coolness of the fresh mountain air would also have been worth all the hardship of the travel, but we were fortunate enough to go for our sadhana after the end of the main tourist season.  The only noises disturbing the silence were the occasional beats of the local traditional drums and the soft roaring of the Kali Ganga River flowing right behind our rooms.

Our three days of intense practice were very enjoyable and we will all treasure precious memories of this very special spiritual practice requested by Swamiji for many years to come.

Then we had to get back on the road again…

Submitted by Pierre

More photos are available from the following link:  http://picasaweb.google.com/pyare.lefebvre/Kalimath#

Swami Veda’s first three public lectures in Trinidad took place at very different venues but his powerful message was the same. The common thread of course was “meditation.”  At all three lectures, the practicum set the tone. At the Chinmaya Mission, there was a very large crowd. As  Swamiji entered, we all saw that the audience was fully participating as Savitri led gentle stretches and postures with breath-awareness. At the University of the West Indies, Swamiji’s topic of “Unifying Streams in Religion” was very well received. As he went through a series of examples of how similar the important themes are, there were nods of assent and smiles from the audience

At the Raja Yoga Center, Swamiji voiced his observation that he was very happy to see changes in Trinidad and that members of the community seemed more spiritually aware. He congratulated all on the progress made on that quest. In his opening remarks, he wished that in this very life all come to personally know God. Swamiji’s lecture was so philosophical, poetic and inspiring!

After the first three public lectures finished, there was a beautiful dinner on the balcony of the Raja Yoga Center in San Fernando. Sister Hemlata and all of the Brothers and Sisters were so gracious, warm and welcoming and happy to be able to host Swamiji. Everyone in Swamiji’s group received a little book of thoughts and affirmations.

On Friday, September 11th, there will be a Symposium entitled Wanam: Traditions in Conversation. The book launch is hosted by the Dept. of Behavioural Sciences at UWI. There will be three panels each of four members and a moderator. The first panel represents the voice of academics and the second panel represents the voice of women. The third panel represents the voice of religious practitioners. The book launch for Wanam will be on Saturday 12th September. These events have been widely publicized in the local newspapers. Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo and a group of 16 arrived from Guyana for the Book Launch today. Swamiji was very pleased that Guyana is represented.

Everyone tries to ensure that Swamiji takes as much rest as possible. Today, Thursday is supposed to be a rest day but we are expecting two separate but short interviews from the press, and also for the Indian High Commissioner, who also served in Mauritius before, to visit, possibly for dinner. Tomorrow, it is planned that Swamiji would see the Bird Sanctuary so we are all looking forward to this.

Aunt Dolly is busy in the kitchen today making black eye soup (here it is called sancoach and has black eye peas but in Guyana it is called metagee), boiled corn and fresh vegetables. Yesterday she made dumplings from whole wheat flour and the day before she made the delectable ‘bake’ which Swamiji enjoyed very much. The milky drinks are the highlight of his day especially the soursop and babbadeen. The milk is so fresh that thick cream forms after being boiled

As always, this link should take you to the pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Preadarshni/
Trinidad09#5378492902061020882

In Service,
Priya

Swami Veda Bharati’s Address to the Delegates
September, 2009

In the very humble opinion of this man from the 21st century B.C., because my tradition goes back to that and I only speak from there, I have nothing new to add.  I’m only an interpreter and a paraphraser.

The beginning point of all social change and the ending point of all social change is in oneself.

So integrating it all into oneself and daily giving oneself some time for contemplating these issues – not on how to bring change in the society, or how to bring change in the economics, or how to bring change in the social structures of education – but where to bring change in oneself.

To ask oneself: Where is my level of greed that I can reduce?  Where is my level of want that I can reduce?  At what level is my peace of mind, that is, absence of conflicts in my mind?  And perhaps I have fewer conflicts now than I had ten years ago, but what are those conflicts whose energy needs to be integrated and harmonized, and how do I go about doing it?

Spend time on oneself and then be a leader.  A good leader is he or she who leads without letting anyone feel that he or she is leading – just by mere presence.  A real peacemaker is one who by his or her mere presence generates peace in the surrounding minds.

When we have worked enough on ourselves in this way, spending some time in contemplation and meditation both, moments of that silence then bring peace and harmony around us, and the sense of unity around us will expand in concentric circles like a wave spreading out and becoming subtler and subtler and subtler – its energy spreading and in this way similarly forming ten thousand waves.

When two waves know that they are waves of the same ocean of consciousness, that is called love.  And love will happen as peace will happen.  We cannot make it happen.  We cannot do it.  We do nothing.  We must simply “BE” and keep making quantum leaps in our Being.

I have one request.  After this please do not applaud.  Just take ten seconds to go over what I have suggested, and ask yourselves whether there will be this quantum leap from now so that you will have more time for this kind of contemplation in your life when you go back.  Thank you.

————————————————————————————-

Power of One 10.10.10 conducted its Quantum Dialogue One: “The Interconnected Universe: The Power of Integrated Action”, on September 2, 2009 at the House of Sweden, Washington, D.C.

Power of One 10.10.10 was formed to catalyze quantum solutions to humanity’s greatest environmental and social challenges by shifting consciousness and celebrating the oneness of all life.

Quantum Dialogue One’s distinguished panelists include Dr. Amit Goswami, theoretical quantum physicist; renowned spiritual leader Swami Veda Bharati; Harriet Fulbright, President of the Fulbright Center; Dr. Claes Nobel, champion of United Earth, Earth Ethics and Youth Leadership; and Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), leader of environmental and social change, who was unable to attend, but submitted his message to the group.

Atem Ramsundersingh, our AHYMSIN Vice President, and his wife Oesha, as co-chair of the  Asia-Europe Dialogue for Exchange and Sustainable Development, collaborated in developing the vision of the Conference with many others.

In addition to a full conference on the first day, a second day involved interviews that will be aired through various media throughout the country.

The essence of Swami Veda’s message (which you can read in its entirety in the session two report below)  is:

“The beginning point of all social change and the ending point of all social change is in oneself. So integrating it all into oneself and daily giving oneself some time for contemplating these issues – not on how to bring change in the society, or how to bring change in the economics, or how to bring change in the social structures of education – but where to bring change in oneself.”

“When we have worked enough on ourselves in this way, spending some time in contemplation and meditation both, moments of that silence then bring peace and harmony around us, and the sense of unity around us will expand in concentric circles like a wave spreading out and becoming subtler and subtler and subtler – its energy spreading and in this way similarly forming ten thousand waves. In this way we will keep making quantum leaps in our being.”

This was Swami Veda’s first invitation to Scotland.

Dr. Jenny Connaughton, Chairperson of Yoga Scotland (incorporating the Scottish Yoga Teachers’ Association),  invited Swami Veda and Swami Ritavan to their annual seminar.

The Annual Seminar is held in St Andrews, which is on the east coast of Scotland, about 90 minutes north of Edinburgh.  It is a historic university town with a wonderful beach and it is one of the University Halls of Residence

The other invited tutors were Tom Yeudall, practitioner of Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Yoga; and Simon Heather a healer and author,  Principal of the College of Sound Healing in UK.

There were about 120 participants amongst whom were yoga teachers, students, foundation course students and other interested yogis and yoginis.

After the introductions Swamiji led a short meditation on the first evening and  in the following days Swami Ritavan led the classes during the morning and Swami Veda  during the afternoon.

Swamiji’s lectures were based on Philosophy of Hatha Yoga, Importance of Breathing and Breath Awareness, Systematic Methods and Tools for Meditation.

As this was Swamiji’s first visit to Scotland people were curious and asked questions about Swamiji’s background  so in the last session Swamiji read some of his poetry and talked about his experiences with Gurudeva Swami Rama.

There was great interest expressed by the participants and I have no doubt that some of them would wish to visit the ashram.

Submitted by Tejaswini

Rostov-on-Don, Russia,  17-23 June

This was Swami Veda’s first visit to Russia.

Our dear friends and initiates, Victor and Luidmilla, who have visited our ashram regularly and have also brought groups for the past five years,  invited Swamiji to their city of residence.   Previously this group has invited Swamiji and Swami Ritavan to Slovakia.

We were very warmly welcomed and comfortably settled in Olga’s house for our entire stay.  Olga kindly vacated her place for us.  Everyone was so kind and willing to do anything to make our stay comfortable and memorable.

It is a group of about 25 people who have been together for about 10 years led by Victor and Luidmilla.  Swami Ritavan has visited them before in Russia.

It is a keen group, deeply interested in the philosophy of yoga.  Victor Dorofeenko has been diligently translating into Russian Swamiji’s  booklets and other material for the benefit of the group.

Swamiji decided to lecture on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

About 17 people were initiated.

On the last morning before our departure we went to see an old Cossack settlement, Starocherkasskaya,  which used the be the Don Cossack capital, where a church, monastery,  museum and Cossack fort houses are preserved.

Submitted by Tejaswini

Hungary, 26-28 June

June 26-28 Swami Veda, Swami Ritavan, Stoma, Maya and Ashutosh conducted a workshop on the Yoga Sutras Sadhana Pada in Budapest, Hungary. They were greeted with 285 participants in one of the most troubled economies in Europe. Certificates were awarded to the first group of graduates from the Hungarian 600 hour teacher training program. Among them were the first person to come to the ashram from Hungary and the local organizers of the TTP program, Joszef Papp and Anna Mezosi. On the 28th Swami Veda conducted a blessing of more than 25 children and more than 60 initiations were given.

Submitted by Stoma